Mario The Star Alliance
by Xigo
Summary: A 'brother' wages war on Mushroom Kingdom, commanding an army so large that Mario cannot defeat it alone. What does he need? Well, an All-Star Alliance of course!
1. Prologue

**_Mario- The Star Alliance_**

_**Prologue- A Happy Land**_

The land known as Mushroom Kingdom. It was a fine realm, with nothing but peace and happiness within it. All forests, seas, towns, mountains and deserts had no troubles, and every single creature that lived in it felt safe and tranquil. It had been quite a while since any evil came in, whether that be either Bowser or some other villain. And with this, it had been quite some time since the Hero of the land went to work; Mario.

With this though, the Legendary Plumber got to enjoy his life, living at home on the edge of the woods with his brother Luigi. The two did not go to fight or go on any adventures anymore, all they wanted to relax while the land was at harmony. But to pass the time and still have fun, they had Parties will all of their friends, played Tennis, Golf, and even had Go-Kart races. Yes, the brothers had no troubles like all the other people in the land, and to take full advantage of that they had Geno and Mallow over today, where at the very moment were playing a tag-team game of tennis together on their front lawn.

Mallow, though short and stout, sent a fierce smack of the ball back at the brothers, and almost the very second after it bounced off the ground, Luigi was there to pound it back at them. It flew to the side, and to save it from touching the ground twice, Geno leapt at the ball, and sliced it back. The ball flew through the air, heading straight at Mario, who let it bounce once, and nailed it right back. Geno was on the ready, and in an amazing display clocked it with an awesome hit back at Luigi and Mario. The Plumber took the shot though, and pounded it harder than ever before. Soaring towards the ground at a speed faster than any Paratroopa, Mario and Luigi froze in anticipation, waiting to see if this match would be theirs…

…and it would be. As for being just a second too slow, Mallow couldn't get to the ball in time, and let it bounce twice upon the court.

"Momma mia! What a game!" Mario exclaimed as he jumped into the air.

"Gotta that right bro, nice job!" Luigi added as the two brothers celebrated. Mallow now picked himself up and dusted himself up as Geno smirked.

"Nice job guys, I can see now why you won half of those tennis tournaments you guys held" the living-doll said. Mallow smiled.

"Yeah! You guys must be the greatest players of all time!" the cream-puff like creature added. Mario laughed.

"Ahh non-a-sense! We're good, but not-thata good!" the young man replied. Luigi then took a whiff of the air, and a wonderful scent reached his nose.

"Oh my, Mario, I think the pizza's done!" Luigi said. Mario's eyes lit up.

"The pizza!? Wha-hoo!" he yelled. Geno and Mallow also looked just as excited.

"It's ready! Awesome!" Geno cried out. Luigi then began running back to the house.

"Just set everything up on the porch Mario, I'll go get it!" he said before he went inside.

His brother listened, and on the fine wooden deck Mario, Geno and Mallow set up a fine table for their lunch. Beautiful glass dishes at each place, with a sparkling cup and the softest napkins they ever felt. They all sat down at it, and waited excitedly for the pie. It wasn't long before Luigi stepped out from the kitchen, holding up a steaming pizza.

"Here we are guys!" the young man stated, and set it in the middle of the table. Mario, Geno and Mallow all leaned over at it, practically drooling from the double-cheese and sausage pizza.

"Let's dig in!" Mallow exclaimed, and grabbed himself a slice. Geno took one for himself, and Mario took a piece bigger than both of theirs. Luigi took his own then, and as the others chewed up their first bites, took a good taste of it. His eyes practically rolled with pleasure.

"Ohhh my that's good…" he said. Geno gave a hefty nod.

"Indeed! This things amazing!" the dude added.

"I wanna come eat here every day!" Mallow proclaimed. Mario then lunged at the rest of the pizza, and picked up another slice.

"Time-a for seconds!" Everyone laughed.

* * *

The Castle was alive with work as all the Toads and maids worked frantically to decorate the entire palace. On the outside, the gardeners were making sure the grass was cut, watered, and that the gardens were looking as gorgeous as all the flowers were. Inside, the walls and ceiling was being festooned by endless streams, pictures and balloons. Toads and Maids stood up on chairs and ladders to set everything up, while others had to have a few Paratroopas hold them in mid-air to set up for tonight's big event.

It was Princess Peach's fifteen anniversary that she was princess of Mushroom Kingdom, and to celebrate she and Daisy were throwing the biggest party ever at the castle. She had sent out invitations to some hundred guests, including Mario and Luigi. These letters were being carried out by Parakarry and the rest of the Paratroopa Mail Team, who had actually been delivering letters for the past two days. Right now Peach and Daisy were giving more commands for the decorating, and making sure everything goes to plan and that all the adornments were being set up correctly. They entered the main foyer, where everything looked grand, going from the biggest balloons to even the smallest of things like the confetti.

"Perfect guys! This looks great!" Daisy exclaimed as her smiling face scanned over the room. "Awesome job on the streamers Toadsdale! How'd ya get up that high?" The loyal friend and advisor to Princess Peach floated down to her atop a large white cloud, or what he called Kumo.

"Thanks to ol' Kumo here of course! This guy listens to whatever I say. If it weren't for him I'd be tumbling off a ladder right now!" the Toad replied. Daisy laughed, and Peach even got a chuckle from it.

"Well thank you Toadsdale, I absolutely love how the castle looks so far. Though I feel…almost big-headed to be setting up such a big party…just for me…" the princess began, sounding ashamed a little. Daisy laughed again.

"Oh nonsense! You know I and Toadsdale have been planning this thing for weeks! And besides, we've been getting all of this ready for ya! All you've done is make a list of guests and make sure that you liked the decorations!" the other princess said. Toadsdale nodded.

"Yeah, and we all know you deserve it, Mushroom Kingdom has never had a better ruler than you!" he added. Peach couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks guys, you all really have done a lot of work on this. I hope I can repay every one of you one day" the Princess of Mushroom Kingdom stated. Toadsdale laughed.

"Man, I'm sure that after we get to eat all of that cake the chefs have prepared, you won't need to give us anything back!" the advisor exclaimed. Peach laughed.

"I can imagine. Say, how's all the food coming?" she inquired.

"Fine and dandy, I was talking to Chef Gourmet today. He's finished up with all the soups and salads, and now he's working on fruit and vegetable platters, including the stuff like lasagna, pizza and the pasta. Then when that's done they'll finish off with the cakes and desserts" Daisy answered. "I tell ya, I saw all of that stuff, and it's amazing!" Peach chuckled a little again.

"I'm sure it is, I think I'm more excited for that now more than anything else" she said.

"I know I am!" Toadsdale affirmed with a big smile. Daisy and Peach both laughed, and after they finished their guffaw Daisy pointed towards the entrance with her thumb.

"Hey, wanna go check out the front?" she asked. Peach smiled and nodded.

"Sure" And with that they walked over to the huge double doors, and were soon outside.

* * *

Deep within the Grey Grey Mountains, surrounded by a dark sky, towers of a rock, thunder and lightning, sat the great fortress of the Koopa King; Bowser. Last since his defeat at the hands of Mario and all of his allies, the great Koopa had fled to his old castle, where he now amazingly lived in peace.

Yes, it was true, the terrifying, evil Koopa King now became nothing more than a party-animal. In these days of tranquility, Bowser loved to have random get-togethers with all old friends, and even just everybody at his castle. They'd eat, drink, dance, and party for the entire night, and the next day sleep until the next day. He had completely left his troublesome side, and decided just to blow off the days and part every day.

This day was one such day, as within the Throne Room of his castle, Bowser and all of his minions stood around laughing and talking and eating and drinking. A huge record player played a catchy tune that Bowser took a liking to, and decided to have it play for the entire time as everybody did whatever they pleased. Right now the Koopa King slumped on his huge chair, with all kinds of his grunts around him as his one Sniff finished off a joke.

"And then I said, that's no Whomp, that's my wife!!" he exclaimed, and everybody burst out into laughter as they fell over and their drinks spilled. The chortle overpowered every other noise in the room, especially Bowser's, which was louder than a King Bobomb's explosion.

"Ohh man! That's a good one Sniffto!" Bowser said, "one of the funniest jokes I've ever heard! But I think I got a better!" One of the Goomba's faces lit up.

"You do? Say it Bowser say it!" the little mushroom-like creature shouted as he bounced up and down. Still chuckling a little, Bowser went on.

"Okay, here we go. What do you call a Chomp that bites its own tail off?" The Koopa King asked. Everyone looked to have an almost nonplussed look.

"I don't know Bowser, what?" Sniffto asked. Bowser took a pause, and then literally screamed the punch-line.

"Stupid!!!" Everybody laughed even harder and louder than before more, almost completely silencing the music and guffawing until they were rolling over on their sides with tears streaming from their eyes. As they laughed hysterically from the incredibly dumb joke, the doors to the room opened, and an entire line of Goombas and Magikoopas rolled in with carts of food. Quickly everyone noticed it, and just as the first crowd began to run in, Bowser plowed through them all. "Mine!!" he yelled with his mouth drooling from the sight of all the steaming morsels. All the Goombas and Magikoopas screamed as the Koopa King came down at them, shaking the floor with his immense weight and shoveling in entire platefuls of breadsticks, cheese-sticks, chicken patties and hamburgers. Within a minute, Bowser had eaten about twenty-full course meals, and there was still about ten times that left to eat, and even more was being made in the kitchens. Grabbing some dozens of bags of snacks, he spun around and hurled them all at his minions.

"Come on guys, let's dig in!" he shouted with a big laugh. Goombas, Koopas, Paratroopas, Whomps, Bobombs, Shy Guys, Boos, Piranha Plants and Sniffs caught bag after bag of nachos and potato chips, and opened them up as they began to inhale entire bag-fulls amongst each other. Bowser then took about five bags of the barbeque potato chips, and began to wolf them down even as he still spoke. "This roooocks!!!" And music, food, guests and all, the part went on…


	2. Chapter 1 An Uninvited Army

_**Chapter 1- An Uninvited Army**_

"Hurry it up! We only have an hour left and we still got some hundred letters to deliver!" Parakarry shouted to the rest of the Paratroopa Mail Team. It was a busy day for the greatest post service in all of Mushroom Kingdom, with having to transport all the invitations to the guests for Peach's party that she wanted to have come. The group was now flying over the Chocolate Mountains, soaring above all the rocks, ridges, valleys and cliffs as they tried to pick up speed to get to the next town and then finally Mario and Luigi's house.

While this was their last carry for the day, they had been flying for nearly a half hour now, and still had quite the distance to go before they'd get to Sunflower Town. And from there they had to get to Mario's place, which was at least another half-hour flight from the town. And now with a limited amount of time left, they had to hustle if they wanted to get the letters delivered on time, and get the perfect pay, and report back not only to Princess Peach but their station. It was a busy day for the Paratroopa Delivery Team.

"Hey Parakarry, how much longer do you think we have to fly for?" one of the Paratroopas asked.

"Heck if I know! But from where we are now and at the speed we're going I'd guess to say we'll get everything to the guests with probably a minute to spare!" Parakarry answered over the sound of the rushing wind from their flight.

"Are we going to have to personally deliver the letters to the guests in Sunflower Town?" another asked.

"Yeah, and what about Mario? Do we all have to go there?" a Paratroopa named Parry inquired. Parakarry didn't even look at them, but inside kept his eyes in front of him as he looked out into the distance.

"No, we can just give all the letters to the mail office at the town, and as far as Mario goes, we really don't need to go all at once, I could just go on my own while the rest of you head back just to make sure the more of us return on time. I could even just go to Peach while the rest of you go to the station" Parakarry explained. Parry gave a sigh of relief as he wiped his forehead.

"Phew! At least that's some good news!" he exclaimed. Parakarry went over with a few more explanations of the entire situation then, and while he did so one of the other Paratroopas named Poorta began to glance all over the area. Scanning over the Chocolate Mountains, he soon noticed a huge red mass moving down the one hill, and stopped. Gazing out at it, the other Paratroopas kept flying, but quickly Parry noticed him and stopped along with the others.

"Poorta what are you doing!? We gotta run!" he yelled. Poorta squinted, not yet getting a good sight of the crowd, but still pointed out at it.

"Guys, what in the world is that?" he said aloud. Everyone then also looked out in the same direction, and all of them instantly spotted the mass.

"Well jeez…I have no clue" one of them stated.

"It looks like a crowd of something, but I can't tell what they are" another added. Parakarry tried to look closer, but not even his great eyes to make out what it is.

"Let's go closer" he said, and then began to fly out at it. Parry and Poorta were the first to follow behind him, and quite quickly, while the others were a bit reluctant at first. As they neared the sight, they slowly began to see more of what it was, and after a few seconds Parakarry flew down at a ridge above the valley it seemed to be moving into. The others came down with him, and they all slowly crawled over to the ledge, and peered down at it.

"I wonder what it could…" Parry started to say, and then stopped as his eyes bulged. Everyone else almost froze in place except for Parakarry when they saw the enormous throng, though inside he was just as shocked. Marching down the slopes of the Chocolate Mountains was an army of monsters; Goombas, Koopas, Paratroopas, Boos, Sniffs, Shy Guys, Spinys, Piranha Plants, Magikoopas, Lakitus, Chomps, Whomps, Thwomps, Bobombs and more. Even worse, by the dozens, possibly even hundreds, walking along in immense groups as they traveled along for some unknown reason.

"Ho-holy cow…what is that…?" Parry whispered.

"I…I have no clue…" one of the Paratroopas replied.

"That army's gigantic…why in the world are they here?" Poorta questioned aloud. Parakarry kept his eyes on the regiments, his eyes narrowed with a stern look.

"I don't know guys, but it doesn't look good, not at all. We gotta forget about the invitations now, and report this to Princess Peach, this seems far more serious…" he stated as she stood up then and walked away from the ledge. He stood motionless, and sighed. Staying silent, he suddenly took off into the air at a speed like never before. "we gotta get outta here!!" he screamed with his face warped by fright. All the others screamed themselves, and quickly followed behind him as they took to the skies.

* * *

Peach and Daisy stood inside the main foyer as they gazed at the wonderful work that was now completed for the decorations. Every single embellishment was perfect, looking like it cost some thousands of coins just to make them. Streamers of obviously only royal possession hung from the walls and ceiling, like balloons by the absolute dozens. One great banner hung down, a great white one that said it large pink letters "Happy Anniversary to Our Wonderful Princess!" and after it was a wonderfully painted portrait of Peach's face. She loved everything.

"Jeez, what work though! I love parties, but they're too much trouble to prepare for!" she exclaimed.

"Nonsense! They're always worth it, and this one's gonna be even more than that!" Daisy added. Toadsdale hovered by them still on Kumo.

"You bet! I've never seen the foyer so beautiful in my entire life. We did a great job of decorating this entire place" he said. Peach looked over at him and smiled.

"You guys really did, thank you all so much" she replied with a wink. Toadsdale couldn't help but blush a little.

"Yeah, but this things not perfect yet. Get the doors open and let some fresh air and sunshine in!" Daisy called out to a few of the Toads and Maids. Instantly they dashed over to the huge double doors, and in a team effort slowly pulled them open. The cool breeze and rays of the sun began to pour into the castle…as well as about a dozen Paratroopas…

About a second after it was only half-open, Parakarry and the rest of the Paratroopa Mail Team came soaring in, surprising everyone and then smashing either into the way or the floor.

"What in the world!?" Toadsdale yelled. As all of them leisurely began to lift themselves up, they groaned, only-half conscious from their hard landings.

"Parakarry? What are you doing here!?" Daisy shouted.

"Yeah, and why did you guys nearly kill yourselves?" Peach added. Parakarry still moaned from the throbbing pain, but shook his head vigorously to get rid of all of the stars.

"I'm sorry to disturb you Princess, but there's a problem we spotted on out way to Sunflower Town!" the postal worker exclaimed as he jumped into the air and kept up using his wings. Peach now became concerned just be the simple mentioning of that.

"What do you mean? What happened?" she inquired. Parakarry took a deep breath.

"As we were flying over the Chocolate Mountains, we all spotted a gigantic army of monsters marching along throughout the area. I tell ya, there must've been hundreds of 'em!" the hyper Paratroopa explained.

"Yeah! We all saw it!" Parry added as he flew over to them. Poorta did the same.

"Indeed! Goombas, Koopas, Lakitus, Chomps, Whomps, the works!" he said. Peach and the others all seemed rather disturbed by what they heard, especially Toadsdale.

"That…that's a really bi-big army…" he stammered in fright. Daisy nodded.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound good at all. An army that big can't be going along on their own, they're too much of a threat" the Princess of Sarasa-land stated. Toadsdale nodded.

"Could it be Bowser again?" Poorta asked. Toadsdale shook his head.

"I doubt it, amazingly the big oaf has been living quietly in his castle at the Grey Grey Mountains with the rest of his minions. Being that he's shown no sign of trouble at all for some time, and that the Chocolate Mountains are so far from him, I really wouldn't think they'd be with him" the little guy elucidated. Peach nodded, a serious expression on her face.

"Yes, and this could leave an even bigger problem then, an unknown enemy possibly. I think we should go get Mario and Luigi, and possibly check the place out" the Princess of Mushroom Kingdom announced.

"Are you sure you'd wanna go yourself Princess? If we'd get attacked by the army, it could get ugly…" Parakarry said.

"I know that, but if we all go along with Mario and Luigi, chances for us making it out alive could actually be good. Plus, if I'm important enough to have a monstrous party thrown for me, I should be watching over my kingdom and making sure it stays safe" Peach asserted, an intrepid tone to her voice now. Parry then hovered slowly at Toadsdale.

"Since when did she become so macho…?" the Paratroopa whispered.

* * *

The crew all made it to Mario and Luigi's house within about a half-hour using Kumo. An amazing ability it had was to enlarge itself, and that's exactly what Toadsdale had it do so that he, Daisy and Peach could all ride on it to the legendary brothers' home. When they got there, they literally wasted no time at all. While they had discussed a few more points on the way there, they quickly got Mario and Luigi outside, and began to explain the situation. The two listened attentively, several nods coming from both as the story unfolded. It took about ten minutes just to get all of it out of the way, and then came the more important matter; what the heck they'd do about it…

"So yeah…can ya help us?" Peach asked. Luigi nodded.

"Sure we can, that certainly sounds like big trouble!" the young man answered.

"Yeah, but whata are we-a gonna do!?" Mario added. The others all went silent as they tried to innocently look out the corners of their eyes, while Daisy gulped.

"Well uh…that's what we'd hope you figure out…" she said. Mario and Luigi both had the most bland expressions ever as they stared at her, almost in that they couldn't believe it.

"So wait…you're saying the greatest patrol of mailmen, and two princesses, one who we're supposed to be holding a gigantic party in celebration of her amazing ruling, can't even decide how to counter this thing?" Luigi questioned.

"Looks to be that way" Toadsdale plainly replied, gazing off into no-where as if he was completely uninterested, and by this point he pretty much was. Parakarry pretty much was close to having a fit now.

"Wait a second! There's no way we wasted all this time doing nothing and getting ready to check this thing out, and now be held off because we're all a bunch of idiots! We had to stop our entire patrol because of this!" Poorta leaned over at his captain.

"Yeah, but that also meant we saved ourselves about another five miles of flight…probably double for you…" he whispered. Parakarry's eyes widened in realization.

"Oh…right…yeah that's pretty good actually…" he said. Mario sighed.

"Momma mia, why don't we-a just go to-a the place and checka it out!?" he yelled.

"Yeah, that's really all we can do. Inspect it, see what we can find, and hopefully we can get some clues, then just go from there" Luigi finished off. Daisy nodded.

"That sounds fine, especially in that we don't have any force to fight them yet, provided we even need to fight them, maybe if we're lucky they'll stay secluded to there" the girl stated. No one else had much more to say, and for a few seconds everything was quite before Peach chuckled.

"Jeez, we're really having an off day if it took us this long to figure this out…" the Princess commented. Everyone instantly gave her a stony expression.

* * *

Currently everyone was now over the Choco Mountains. Mario and Luigi had joined the others on Kumo, while all the Paratroopas still flew in the sky. Though, three of them had left Mario and Luigi's house before they departed for the mountains to try and find Geno and Mallow. Mario had suggested that since they were still close by, that they try and find them for help. Even if it had been a while since they last saw battle, the two certainly hadn't gotten rusty in their skills. As the other Paratroopas still were gone, the rest of the gang still soared over the area, as Parakarry, Poorta and Parry tried to spot out where they last saw the army.

"Hmm, I'm at a loss now guys, do you remember where it was?" Parakarry was as he scanned the region with his amazing eyes.

"Personally I don't but if any of us can remember specific landmark, I'm sure we could spot it out fine" Parry answered. Poorta now looked over at the two.

"Well, didn't we look over a low hill?" the other postal worker asked. Parakarry quickly recollected everything now as she snapped his fingers.

"Hey that's right! We they were right below us in that large rut" he said. Parry then seemed to notice it, and pointed right at it.

"You mean that one?" he asked. Everyone glanced over at the spot, and Poorta nodded.

"Yeah that's it!" he replied. Parakarry nodded, and began to fly down.

"Alright then, let's head down" he said. The other Paratroopas followed him, as well as Kumo and everyone he had on top of him. Soon them came to the ground, and everyone except Toadsdale hopped off the large cloud.

"Alright-a then, let's-a look around" Mario said aloud, and began to search alongside Luigi by their own spot. All the Paratroopas stuck together, doing their own investigations, while Peach and Daisy looked all around their area.

"Say, ya know now that I think about it, this place is a pretty good place for an entire army to hide out" the Princess of Mushroom Kingdom said. Daisy nodded.

"Yeah, the whole area is all jagged and rocky, it leaves a lot of hiding places where they can stay concealed, even in large groups. Heck I even heard that there's all the mines still" the other Princess added.

"Aye, long ago a great force of Monty Moles dug one of the greatest underground channels ever to be recorded. It's said to stretch throughout the entire mountains" Toadsdale explained. Peach looked quite surprise.

"Holy cow, that means they could even be traveling underground now, and no one would ever know" she stated.

"Yeah, that and no one even knows where the entrances are, so even if they were down there, how could we ever find them?" Daisy added.

"We probably never would…" Toadsdale sternly finished.

Back with the Paratroopas, Parakarry and the others had been trying to find out where they tracks that had been left pointed to. Many had been meshed together, so it was hard to decipher, though luckily with Parakarry's great eyes and good ranger-like skills, it wasn't too much of a muddle.

"Well, they're heading for the east it seems, right towards where all the valleys and trenches are on the mountains, or at least where the majority are" he said aloud.

"Why do you think they'd go there?" Parry asked as he looked down at him. Parakarry stood up and shrugged.

"Couldn't tell ya for sure. They might've been looking for a place to hide, or that's where there could be secret entrances that lead to someplace" he replied.

"That's not where all the villages are right?" Poorta inquired. Parakarry nodded.

"Yeah, they're to the west and south more. Which means they're either passed by them and left them alone, or they already attacked them. But at least we know they're not heading for those towns at least" the ace-postal worker explained. Parakarry then began to look over at what everyone else was doing was doing, including Mario and Luigi, who were on the ground inspecting what seemed to be more tracks from the army. "Say, what have ya got there guys?" the Paratroopa asked. Neither of them taking their eyes off the dirt floor of the Choco Mountains, the two brothers gave a run-down of what they had discovered so far.

"Well, for now I managed to pick up normal stuff, like Goombas, Koopas and Chomps and stuff, but from what it seems there were also Thwomps and even Chargins" Luigi answered.

"Yeah, and even-a worse, dudes like-a Bloopers and Dino Rinos!" Mario added. Daisy's eyes widened.

"Wow…they can figure out stuff like that from this entire mess of tracks?" she asked aloud, almost sounding like she disbelieved it.

"Yep, always have, always will" Peach answered dully. Toadsdale had something slightly productive to say.

"Well jeez, if there's even more guys like that we didn't know about at first, we could have an even bigger problem. Guys like that are an extreme danger in large packs. I say we come back another time with a much larger force and try to gather some clues then!" he declared. Mario jumped up then, and Luigi quickly followed.

"That-a sounds like a good-a idea!" he replied.

"Yeah, let's beat it before it's too…" Parakarry began before some other odd voice finished off his sentence.

"Late?" it said, cocky sounding. Everyone looked up at the ledge above them, and noticed a sole Goomba standing there, a smirk on his huge head. Luigi narrowed his eyes at him.

"Are you with that army that was here before!?" he shouted. The Goomba looked no less arrogant.

"Of course I am, what's it to you?" he asked back. Peach took a step forward, her eyes hardened.

"That army is a threat to this land, I demand you give us all the information on it" the Princess stated firmly. The Goomba now laughed.

"Oh bah! What on Earth can you do to us?" he questioned. Mario pulled up a sleeve and began to move closer to him.

"I tell-a ya what I'll do-a to you! I'll kick-a your butt!" the young man yelled. After no more than his fifth step, endless more heads emerged into the open alongside the hills, boulders and ledges above the group, the heads of more Goombas, Koopas, Paratroopas, Chomps, Shy Guys and more. Mario and the rest of the gang froze in place, their eyes widening as their mouths fell down in shock of the sudden small army coming into view.

"You didn't understand what I meant by _us, _did you?" the Goomba mocked.


	3. Chapter 2 A Brother's Plot

_**Chapter 2- The Brother's Plot**_

It was an utter war zone. All around the area, the small army of monsters battled fiercely with Mario, Luigi, Parakarry and the rest of the Paratroopa Postal Team. Even Peach and Daisy were lending a hand once in a while, while Toadsdale remained to sit on Kumo away from the fighting, and throwing attack items or tomatoes or other foods to whomever needed them. It was a brutal battle, and it seemed like Mario and the rest of the group had no chance, though they were proving that theory to be very wrong.

The Paratroopas were fighting well, battling the other Paratroopas in the air fist and feet, while Parakarry, Poorta and Parry were performing dive-bombs into the crowds of enemies, knocking flat all in their way with each swoop. Peach and Daisy were together by Luigi and Mario, combating the monsters with whatever weapon they had on them. Daisy had brought along her tennis racket, while Peach used her golf-club, both items proving to be useful as they pounded away at whoever came at them. Mario and Luigi fought side by side with near perfection, using every technique up their sleeves, from their fireballs to the mad hops they had to slam onto the creatures.

Above them, three more enemy Paratroopas plummeted to the ground, being knocked unconscious by the mighty flying rams of the Paratroopa Mailmen. Toadsdale just managed to dodge them all using Kumo, and quickly got back to his surveillance of the fight. He spotted Parakarry, Poorta, and Parry all charge through a group of Goombas, and by the time they were flew out every single one was on its back with glazed looks in their eyes from the massive hits. Peach and Daisy were knocking aside several Shy Guys and Bobombs, Daisy striking them with her tennis racket and Peach practicing her tee-off with her nine-iron. Toadsdale could see about ten more coming their way, and quickly thought of how to stop them.

"Peach! Daisy! Hit these things at the monsters!" the little guy said, catching their attention. Reaching into a large white sack that he brought with him, a bag that had an 'endless hole' he tossed out two green shells, and the Princesses pounded them with every ounce of force in their body straight at the Shy Guys and Bobombs. Not one managed to get out of the way in time, and suffered a quite painful shot. Peach smiled up at him with a wink.

"Thanks Toadsdale!" she shouted. He smiled and nodded back.

"Hey Toadsdale, give us a couple of those shells!" Luigi yelled then after punching out a small Chomp. Quickly he reached into the bag, and threw a red shell and a green shell at the two brothers, Mario took the red, and Luigi took the green, and then both punted them into the masses of enemies, the shells tearing through the lines like they were tissue.

Just then, on the horizon, three more Paratroopas flew into the battlefield, two of them carrying Geno and Mallow. The living doll opened up his arm, and unleashed a spray of bullets at a group of Koopas and Goombas, taking them all down. Mario quickly spotted them, and the young man's face lit up.

"Hey! It's-a you guys!" he yelled. Mallow smiled as Geno smirked and shot down some Paratroopas.

"Yeah we're finally here! Let's finish these guys off!" Mallow said, and the Paratroopa dropped him. Once the cream-puff like boy landed on his feet, he raised his hands into the air, and as the sky grew dark, a clap of thunder echoed throughout the mountains. A bolt of lighting struck the enemy lines, blasting them away and cutting down their troops. Mallow sent down another, and another, and another, until soon lighting was raining onto the monsters. Whatever were still around, or even moving for that matter, began to run off, screaming in fright from the awesome might of Mario's gang.

"Retreat!! Somebody get Spike!!" a Goomba yelled. As everyone was about to celebrate, they then managed to hear that one shout, and the everyone in the group looked quite bemused.

"…Spike?" Luigi asked aloud. A few seconds later, a loud stomp was heard, like that of a giant. After another second, there was a second, and then came a third, a fourth, and fifth. They grew louder, and soon the ground began to rumble as everyone saw a huge shadow move across the ground from around the corner of a small cliff. Mario's eyes bugged out.

"Uh-ohhh…" he said. Finally coming before them then, was a monstrous brown dog, easily six times the height of Mario. It looked like a wild mutt, with pointy ears and ragged fur. Around its neck was a black collar with several spikes coming out from it, probably where it got its name. Everybody froze when they first saw it, their hearts nearly stopping as they saw the great animal, baring its fangs as drool poured from its giant maw. The one Goomba laughed while several other monsters stood behind him.

"Ha! Let's see ya stop us now! Sick 'em boy!" the monster commanded. With one loud bark, Spike charged at the others, its mind set on simply tearing them apart. Mario and Luigi quickly snapped out of their trances, and felt their intensity rise as the dog ran at them.

"Everyone get back, let us handle this!" Luigi yelled as he looked back at everyone else, "ready bro?" Mario nodded, his eyes hardened.

"You bet!" he answered. The two brothers then dashed at Spike together, attempting a head-on assault. They leapt at the giant mongrel, trying to perform a punch each, but were force to end their attack early as Spike snapped at them with his huge jaw. Once they came down to the ground, the two scattered, running away as Spike lashed out with his teeth once again. The brothers dashed all around, avoiding his mouth as they desperately tried to find a way to attack him, though coming to no avail. Peach watched on, quite worried even so early in the fight, and looked over at Toadsdale.

"Quick, Toadsdale, find a Mushroom. The two of them have no chance when that dog's so big!" the Princess said.

"Yeah, good idea!" he replied, and began to dig away into his bag in search of the size-increasing vegetable. Plowing through other weapons, he dug further into the sack, though finding nothing. After a few seconds, Daisy looked at him with a stony expression.

"Lemme guess, you have so much stuff in that thing that you can't find a Mushroom?" the tomboy questioned. Toadsdale turned around at her, smiling and chuckling in embarrassment.

"I guess so…" he answered. Everyone sighed.

Back at the fight, Mario and Luigi were still running all over to evade Spike's jaws, who was just coming up short of clamping them onto one of the brothers. Before long though, the dog chose a new tactic, and used it upon Luigi. He slammed his paw down onto the young man, pinning him to the ground with his huge foot. Luigi struggled to escape, but found himself trapped beneath the mutt's weight.

"Mario! Help!" he shouted. Mario was now behind Spike, and put on the brakes as he looked back at his fallen brother.

"Hold on!" the hero of Mushroom Kingdom yelled back. Charging up for not even a second, he shot off a fireball from his hand, and straight into Spike's hindquarters. The giant dog's eye widened, and he yelped in pain as the burned fur on his rump smoke. Running off for a second, Mario dashed over at Luigi, and helped his brother up. "You okay?" he asked. Luigi groaned, but nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine" he answered. Spike stood by one of the mountain walls, snipping at his smoking behind to try and relieve the discomfort. Once he was able to handle it, he looked back at the two brothers, snarling as he showed off his impressive dentistry. With another bark, the monstrous mongrel rang at Mario and Luigi, ready to try the first tactic again. The two young men knew how to get by it this time, and put their plan into action. They executed a double jump, bounding over Spike and his massive jaws. While they were in mid-air and directly on top of him, they turned, and fell upon his back, both doing a ground-pound. Their bodies smashed into his lower-back area, rocking his body like an earthquake.

But to their misfortune, the attack did nothing, and Spike revealed that when he then rolled onto the ground several times, with Mario and Luigi under him. The others all cringed and looked away, knowing full-well that the two were probably pancakes by now.

When Spike got up, they looked back, and spotted only Mario and Luigi's heads sticking out of the ground. The two groaned from the throbbing pain, and slowly revolved their heads from their dizziness.

"Ohh man, who said for that mutt to roll over…?" Luigi moaned. Mario couldn't even answer, though he managed to get rid of the stars that he could see as he shook his head vigorously. Once he regained his composure, he looked back at Spike who was coming at them once more. With a shout of fright each, the two burst from the ground, and began to sprint away as Spike followed them right on their tail. As they began to come to a wall, Luigi quickly turned and ran off in a different direction, while Mario just kept running in a straight line. It ended up being his mistake, as Spike slammed his jaws upon him, taking him straight into his mouth. Peach almost screamed when she saw Mario get eaten, and everyone else gasped or turned away. But it was not as bad as they thought, as Spike suddenly gave an odd look as his mouth began to slowly open again. Through his huge teeth, Luigi could make out Mario pushing with all his might against the giant mouth, trying with all of his strength to escape. "Hold on bro, I'm coming!" Luigi yelled.

The younger of the Mario brothers dashed over to Spike, and stopped underneath him. With a single jump, he punched the dog square in the stomach, making him gag and spit Mario right out. Luigi wasted no time, and briskly ran to Mario and helped him up. The two ran off again, and Mario began to recover his composure after almost being swallowed alive.

"You okay Mario?" Luigi asked. Mario nodded.

"Yeah, I'm-a fine, but we gotta figure out a way-a to stop this guy!" he said back. At that moment, Toadsdale finally was able to find a Mushroom in his bag, and took it out as he held it into the air.

"I got it!" he proclaimed. Peach's face lit up.

"Great! Give it to Mario! And hurry!" she commanded. Toadsdale turned over at Mario, and pulled his arm back.

"Yo! Catch!" he shouted. Mario looked up at him, and once he saw the Mushroom flying at him, leapt into the air and caught it. No less than a second later, he popped it into his mouth, and swallowed it whole. His body flashed with a neon-yellow color for a moment, and the next thing he knew he grew to some five times his height. Landing on the ground, he quickly looked over at Spike, who seemed to prepare for another charge. Mario planted his teeth, and balled up his fist as he eyed the dog fiercely. Spike growled raucously, and charged at Mario. The giant-man pulled back his fist, and after a couple seconds, sent it flying forward…

With a loud _smack! _Spike ran off, yelping as his nose throbbed from the great hit. As he dashed away, he plowed through all the other enemies, that or crushing them in his retreat.

"Alright! We did it!" Daisy exclaimed. Luigi then went over to the downed monsters, and poked a few of them to see if he could get a reaction.

"Yeah, but the only possible guys we could question are either dead or in a coma. Which means we have nothing more to go on with this…" the young man stated. Peach sighed.

"Well great, now what do we do?" she asked aloud. Mario stomped over to a gang, his finger in the air.

"Don't worry, we can-a go see Merlon, he could probably give us some-a help!" the now large hero explained. Parakarry smiled.

"That's perfect! He'll surely know what to do!" the Paratroopa replied.

"Good, then let's get outta here" Toadsdale said. All the Paratroopas looked way up at Mario then, their eyes widened as they stared at the giant man.

"Uh…how are we gonna fly with him…?" Poorta inquired.

* * *

Luckily, Mario's growth had eventually worn off, and he shrunk back to normal size. Instead of joining him and the others to go see Merlon, Parakarry and the rest of the group chose to go back to their post office, and check in with their boss. While they joined them on their travel to Toad Town, the second they got there they departed and went straight to their building. Though when Mario and the rest of the group arrived, they went right o the mystic fortune teller's house, where they all now stood inside, after explaining the entire ordeal to the mysterious man.

"Hmm, so an army of monsters…big army huh?" the magician asked. Peach nodded.

"Yeah, big"

"We're talkin', huge right?" Merlon pressed.

"Absolutely gigantic" Toadsdale answered. Merlon nodded, rubbing his chin.

"So big that…" he began before Luigi interrupted him.

"Can we get down to the point!?" the young man yelled. Merlon seemed a bit taken aback by his shouting.

"Why sure. Now, what is it that you want me to try and find out for you?" he inquired. Mario took a small step forward, and placed his hands upon Merlon's table.

"We tried to-a find out who-a these monsters are for, but we had-a no success. Can you find-a out who they're working for?' the hero questioned, an unusual serious tone to his voice. Merlon seemed to think it over, again rubbing his chin as he contemplated.

"I shall try, allow me to inspect" the mystic replied. Then putting his hands upon his magical sphere, he closed his eyes, and focused ardently with his mind. The room grew dark, but a dazzling display of lights began to fly all about, putting almost everyone else besides Mario in awe. Stars, rays and all other shapes of the illuminations could be seen, and through it all Mario stood staring at Merlon, who continued to scrutinize into his mystical powers. After about a minute more, he stopped, and so did the lights. Lifting his hands from his star-ball, the hooded man's eyes opened. "I believe I have a answer" he stated. Daisy's eyes lit up.

"Well, what is it?" she asked excitedly. Merlon appeared almost reluctant to speak.

"Before I say it, I must warn you, it's slightly vague" he spoke. Geno smirked.

"Man nonsense, a vague answer is better than what we have now" he replied.

"Yeah, we need some kind of clue!" Mallow added. Merlon did not give a reply, but sighed and nodded.

"Aye, allow me to tell you what I saw…" the magician began, and everyone focused completely on him, "I could see a shadow, one as black as the heart that it came from. It had terrible power; amazing strength, horrible flames, and fighting technique like no other. It basks amongst his monster minions, inside an enormous castle. This thing is a 'king'…" Daisy snapped her fingers.

"Wow, so it actually was Bowser all along. I actually started to believe it wasn't him" the Princess said.

"Yeah, but with such a vision like that, there's no one else who it could be" Peach commented. Merlon looked very severe now, and was silent for a few seconds.

"It is not Bowser…this one is even stronger than he is now…" he stated. The entire group shot a look at Merlon like they had seen a ghost, as if they didn't want to believe him. Their eyes widened, and their mouths agape.

"No way…stronger?" Toadsdale asked. Merlon nodded.

"Yes, far stronger" he replied. The rest of the house grew quiet once more, and no one said a word in this moment of shock. After a few more seconds Merlon walked over to the exit, and stopped. "I suggest you all stay here in Toad Town for the rest of the day, I'm going to go to Russ T's house and talk to him about this, and look over his books with him" the mystic said.

"But, Peach is supposed to have a huge party tonight" Daisy objected. Merlon paused, and then gravely replied.

"My friends, an hour of danger like this is no time for a party…" he responded, and the proceeded to leave his home.

* * *

Inside a dark castle room, on top of a greatly adorned chair, sat the one that Merlon saw in his vision. It was the leader of the army indeed, and the sole being that was the cause of the horrible predictions that the magician bore. He was truly a terrible beast, huge in size, and with terrifying looks to the inch. Claws, horns, spikes, armor and all, this horrible creature sat in the room alone, a large throne-room like space so to say. He sat silently, his head bowed he thought about many things, including his plans. But in fact, he waited for something, and that something was a simple pair of Gray Magikoopas, carrying their wands as their robes dragged upon the ground. When the doors to the room closed, they walked up a deep green carpet to the creature, and bowed.

"My lord, we bring some delightful news" one said. The evil one lifted up his head, a slight grin on his frightening face.

"And what might this be?" he asked, in a deep voice. The Magikoopas now stood up, and the same one that spoke replied to him.

"The rest of the army has entered our barracks and castle now. The only ones that are not here are the group that was behind at Choco Mountains, with Spike" The creature nodded.

"Hmm, that is indeed good, and not a bad loss at all. In fact, it's even better, now we know that Mario and those other weaklings have found out about some of this, and will try to stop us" he began, "all the easier to wipe them out…" The shadow one then began to chuckle deeply, but quietly, pleased by what he heard and what he knew.

"And sir, we have even more to tell you" the other Magikoopa said. The creature looked at him now, appearing a bit curious.

"What is it?" he asked. The Gray Magikoopa grinned.

"We've spotted three other Magikoopas, two Blues and a White, traveling through the Grey Grey Mountains. They're Bowser's minions, and heading for his castle" The evil one's eyes lit up with a sinister glee, and he laughed.

"Oh my, a few of Bowser's clowns out in the open. How delightful" he joked, "get a group together, and have them taken out, tell them that I've come here to Mushroom Kingdom, and that I'll be taking all control" The Magikoopas both grinned now, and bowed back.

"Yes my lord" they said in unison. They both turned around, and left the room then, leaving the dark one to himself. He simply sat on his chair, grinning.

* * *

That night, when the sky grew dark and the air chilled, as everyone in Toad Town slept, Merlon and Russ T worked endlessly as they through books, tomes, manuscripts and scrolls. Already had they been tirelessly slaving over the task for some hours, finding nothing of which Merlon needed. The worst thing of it was though, that even with all they had, they were barely half-way done with all the books to look through…

Russ T gave a big yawn as he flipped through a brown book nearly the size of him. Dust flew off when he turned each page, and with a simple scan over the writing, he managed to decipher most of what they said. And sadly, they contained nothing of which he needed.

"Jeez, you'd think with all these books we could actually find something on what you need" the older Toad said.

"Yeah, and that you wouldn't know where it could be after you've lived with all these things for who knows how many years" Merlon remarked as he read over scroll after scroll that he found. Russ T shrugged.

"Must be some crazy phenomenon then. I've read all of these books at least once, and I'm sure that I'd remember something like your situation. Say, what exactly is it you need to find?" he asked. Merlon stopped his reading, and quietly gritted his teeth once Russ had said that.

"Something about a terrible evil to come to Mushroom Kingdom, even more, like a prophecy" the magician answered.

"Well, right now I'm looking through "The Land's Villains" and so far I've got nothing on the description you gave me, only thing similar to Bowser is him himself" Russ T said. Merlon sighed, and simply dropped the scroll he held currently. His eyes then searched about the room for a second in pure boredom, and they caught a lone green codex at the end of a shelf.

"Say, Russ, what's that book up there?" Merlon inquired, curious by the sight. The Toad looked over at the tome.

"Oh, that's just a crack-pot work on prophecies. I would've suggested it earlier, but trust me, its pure garbage. I only read it once, and all the 'predictions' in there are ridiculous" he explained. Merlon went over to the shelf, and picked it off.

"Right now I'm willing to try anything…" he muttered, and opened up the thin book. His eyes looked over the pages, and second by second he turned another as he tried to find anything similar to his vision.

It was his lucky night, and on the very last page, he found a short paragraph followed by what seemed to be a painted picture of a silhouette of Bowser. The mystic man read the passage-

_When the time passes from the defeat of the King and his Star Staff, it will come that the army of evil attacks the land. Traveling through the towers of rock, they will spread throughout the entire kingdom, plaguing all lands with their might and numbers. Leading them, will be the most terrible evil to threaten the country in it's time. The thing will be one of the same kind of the King, but with even more power. It will be the Black Koopa King…_

Merlon's eyes widened. He literally stood frozen in place after he finished the short excerpt, and stared at it silently. Russ T watched form across the room, confused by the magician's odd behavior.

"Hey Merlon, you okay?" he asked. After a second, the hooded-man turned around, looking at Russ with an appalled look.

"I think I found what I need…"

* * *

The next morning, a few hours after the sun began to rise into the sky, Mario and the rest of the gang began to wake up. With the rays of light shining upon Mushroom Kingdom, illuminating the land, the rest of the country was awakening from its slumber, a whole new day beginning. The birds chirped, the streams ran quietly, and all the towns began to get life in their streets. Toad Town was no different, as now all the residents left their homes, and started off their days however they pleased.

Mario and the group soon were up and about, having a quick breakfast in the hotel, and then leaving to go visit Merlon. The group was still only Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toadsdale, Geno and Mallow, as Parakarry and the other Paratroopas had to work.

"Aw jeez, I can't believe we had to skip out on that big party for you Peach, we worked so hard on it…" Toadsdale sighed as they walked along. Daisy looked almost just as disappointed.

"Yeah, that thing was going to be a blast, and all of a sudden all of our plans were blown away. I really wanted to eat that food!" the girl yelled, obviously a bit mad now. Peach simply chuckled.

"It's no problem, we still have the entire decorations up, and we should be able to keep most of the food. We can just plan for another time, the Kingdom before me of course" she commented. Mario smiled.

"That's-a the way! What-a great Princess!" the young man remarked. Peach laughed.

"Thanks Mario" she said with a big smile. Geno then finally brought up a constructive topic.

"Say, you guys think Merlon managed to get all of what he needed?" he asked. Luigi pondered it.

"Hmm, I'd like to think so, but I honestly can't say" he replied.

"Yeah, after all that all sounded very serious, I wouldn't be surprised if he needed another day to get it all sorted out" Mallow stated. Geno didn't seem to like the idea that much.

"That could be true, but then that gives the enemy another day to operate unnoticed, and it leaves us stuck for more time" the living doll commented. By then, they came to Merlon's house, and Mario began to enter.

"Well then, lets-a find out" he said. The group of seven all walked in, and stood before Merlon, who remained behind his table with the star-ball. His eyes were closed, and it appeared like he had a severe aura about him. After a couple seconds, he looked at the band of heroes.

"My friends, I and Russ T worked all through the night, and eventually I found out enough information to try and examine my mystic ball, and find enough of an answer" he affirmed. He had gotten everyone's interest and attention, almost instantly.

"So, what is it?" Peach asked. Merlon sighed, and then took a deep breath, a sign that he was preparing for a very significant speech.

"Alright, listen carefully…"


End file.
